Meshach Taylor

Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Hertha Mae (née Ward) and Joseph T. Taylor, former dean of students at Dillard University in New Orleans, who was also the first dean of arts and sciences at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.

After the family moved from New Orleans to Indianapolis, Taylor graduated from Crispus Attucks High School in 1964, where he took an interest in acting, and went on to study in the dramatic arts programs at Wilmington College (Ohio) and Florida A&M University. Leaving Florida A&M a few credits shy of graduation, he worked in Indianapolis as a State House reporter for AM radio station WIFE (now WTLC), where he used the on-air name Bruce Thomas, and as the host of a community-affairs program on television station WLWI (now WTHR), as Bruce Taylor.{{cite news|last1=Lindquist|first1=David|title=TV star and Attucks grad Meshach Taylor dies at 67|url=http://www.indystar.com/story/entertainment/movies/2014/06/29/meshach-taylor-designing-mannequin-indianapolis-attucks/11703753|access-date=July 1, 2014|work=The Indianapolis Star|date=June 30, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.designingwomenonline.com/Bios/Meshach.php|title=Meshach Taylor biography at|website=Designing Women Online|access-date=July 1, 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Moore|first1=Frazier|title='Designing Women' star Meshach Taylor dies at 67|url=http://www.komonews.com/news/entertainment/Designing-Women-star-Meshach-Taylor-dies-at-67-265116221.html|access-date=July 1, 2014|agency=Associated Press|date=June 29, 2014}} In May 1993, he received his bachelor's degree in theatre arts from Florida A&M.{{cite news|last1=Scott|first1=Carolyn Patricia|title=Designing Women's Meshach Taylor Ends The Series As He Began -- With Dignity|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-23-tv-38618-story.html|access-date=July 1, 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 23, 1993}}

Taylor's first professional acting gig was in a national tour of Hair. He honed his craft in repertory theater as a member of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, and the Organic Theater Company alongside Joe Mantegna, André DeShields, Dennis Franz, Keith Szarabajka, Jack Wallace, and director Stuart Gordon. While in Chicago, he appeared in David Rabe's Streamers, Native Son (1979 Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination for Actor in a Principal Role in a Play), The Island and Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, for which he garnered the 1977 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Principal Role in a Play. He received an Emmy Award for his role as Jim in the WTTW production of Huckleberry Finn and hosted the Chicago television show Black Life. In 1998, Taylor made his Broadway debut as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, where he starred alongside Toni Braxton.[http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=82306 Internet Broadway Database] In September 2012, he appeared in Year of the Rabbit at Ensemble Studio Theater-LA as Vietnam veteran JC Bridges.{{cite news|url=http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/la/la360.html|work=talkinbroadway.com|first=Sharon|last=Perlmutter|title=Year of the Rabbit|date=September 2012}}

File:Meshach Taylor 1989 (cropped).jpg]]

In 1977, Taylor moved to Los Angeles, where he crafted a gallery of memorable characters in film and on television, including his Emmy-nominated turn in the CBS sitcom Designing Women. Taylor played Anthony Bouvier, the deliveryman at the Sugarbaker interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1989, he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. In May 1981, the ninth season of M*A*S*H, he was seen as a corpsman in the final episode, "The Life You Save".[http://www.filmreference.com/film/99/Meshach-Taylor.html Biodata], filmreference.com; accessed June 29, 2018.

From 1993 to 1997, he was a series regular as plastic surgeon Sheldon Baylor on Dave's World (CBS), and had a recurring role as Alastair Wright, the history teacher turned school principal, on Nickelodeon's sitcom, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004–07) and Buffalo Bill on NBC with Dabney Coleman.

Other appearances include: The Unit, Jessie, Hannah Montana as a fashion designer, All of Us as Neesee's father, The Drew Carey Show, Static Shock, Caroline in the City, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Women of the House, In the Heat of the Night, Punky Brewster, What's Happening Now!!, Hill Street Blues, ALF, Melba, The Golden Girls, Cagney & Lacey, Barney Miller, Lou Grant, The White Shadow, The Incredible Hulk, The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue, and Barnaby Jones.

In 1996, Taylor hosted his own series on HGTV, The Urban Gardener with Meshach Taylor, and in 1998, he hosted Meshach Taylor's Hidden Caribbean on The Travel Channel. He was a regular panelist on the 2000 revival of the television game show To Tell the Truth. He co-hosted Living Live! with Florence Henderson on Retirement Living TV in 2008 until the program was revamped as The Florence Henderson Show.

Taylor had been friends with actor Joe Mantegna since they appeared together in 1969 in the musical Hair.{{Cite web |date=2014-07-08 |title=Lia Chang: Joe Mantegna, Delta Burke, Gerald McRaney, President Bill Clinton and More Remember Meshach Taylor |url=https://liachang.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/lia-chang-joe-mantegna-delta-burke-gerald-mcraney-president-bill-clinton-and-more-remember-meshach-taylor/ |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=Backstage Pass with Lia Chang |language=en}} Taylor guest-starred in 2012 on Criminal Minds' eighth season in the episode "The Fallen", opposite Mantegna as Harrison Scott, Rossi's former Marine sergeant with whom he served in Vietnam.{{cite news|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/criminal-minds/the-fallen-2597817|work=tv.com|title=The Fallen (Season 8, Episode 7)|date=November 14, 2012}} In January 2014, he reprised this role in "The Road Home" which aired January 22, 2014, just five months before his death.{{cite news|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/criminal-minds/the-road-home-2996303|work=tv.com|title=The Road Home (Season 9, Episode 13)|date=January 22, 2014}} Mantegna led a Criminal Minds tenth season episode "Anonymous", to honor Taylor on January 21, 2015.

Taylor appeared in such feature films as Mannequin, Mannequin Two: On the Move, and Damien: Omen II.{{IMDb name|0852886}}

Taylor married actress Bianca Ferguson in 1983. He had four children, three with Bianca and one from a previous marriage. His children are daughters Tamar, Esme and Yasmine and son Tariq; he had four grandchildren.

Taylor died of colorectal cancer on June 28, 2014, at his home in Altadena, California.{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-meshach-taylor-20140630-story.html|title=Meshach Taylor dies at 67; actor known for 'Designing Women' role|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Colker, David|date=2014-06-29|access-date=2014-07-02}}{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-meshach-taylor-dies-20140628-story.html|title=Meshach Taylor, screen and TV star, dies at 67|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2014-06-29|author=Parker, Ryan|access-date=2014-06-29}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/meshach-taylor-dead-designing-women-715569|title='Designing Women' Star Meshach Taylor Dies at 67|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=2014-06-28|author=Barnes, Mike|access-date=2014-06-29}} He was survived by his wife, his four children, his mother Hertha Ward Taylor,{{cite web|url=http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/06/15/longtime-ips-teacher-celebrates-th-birthday/10556101|newspaper=The Indianapolis Star|date=2014-06-15|author=Ryckaert, Vic|title=Hertha Ward Taylor - Longtime IPS teacher celebrates 100th birthday}} two siblings, and four grandchildren. A memorial service to celebrate his life was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) on July 6, 2014.{{cite web|url=http://forestlawn.tributes.com/obituary/portrait/Meshach-Thomas-Taylor-101491860|title=Meshach Taylor Memorial|date=July 6, 2014|access-date=June 29, 2018}}

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• {{IMDb name|0852886}}
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/arts/television/meshach-taylor-actor-on-tvs-designing-women-dies-at-67.html?_r=0/meshach-taylor Meshach Taylor obituary at nytimes.com] June 29, 2014
• [https://www.npr.org/2014/07/07/329520145/-fresh-air-remembers-actor-meshach-taylor 'Fresh Air' Remembers Actor Meshach Taylor]'' NPR 'Fresh Air' host Terry Gross pays tribute to actor Meshach Taylor (April 11, 1947 – June 28, 2014) with rebroadcast of 1990 interview.

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Category:20th-century African-American male actors

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century African-American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:1947 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male musical theatre actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:Florida A&M University alumni

Category:Male actors from Boston

Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in California

Category:20th-century African-American male singers

Category:20th-century American male singers

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:Crispus Attucks High School alumni